On my way to Onitsha recently, a police officer seriously waved me down, pleading that I should help take him in my car to Onitsha where he claimed he served. It's not in my character picking people on the highway, especially if I am working on a tighter schedule. But, the last time I passed that route, I experienced many checkpoints that distorted my timing. So, I felt that picking the police officer would ease off such distortions this time around. I stopped and picked him. He quickly introduced himself and told me that he was recently transferred to Onitsha from Owerri and that he came into Owerri briefly to meet his former boss. As I drove the vehicle, I was curiously watching the officer from my side eye. I noticed some kind of restlessness around him. He would look at me as if he wanted to know if I knew something that I should not know. Just by Ogbaku Junction, he shouted, "Oh God, I forgot my house and office keys where I took my lunch at Control Post. Please drop me let me go back and pick it. Thank you for your help" and he jumped down and crossed the road to board another vehicle. I zoomed off but something in me told me to be careful about nothing. So, I packed my car just after a kilometer away from where I dropped him and began to check the passenger front seat where he sat but could find nothing. So, I continued my journey. Immediately, I crossed Njaba River, my car just stopped. I was wondering what could have been the cause. So I stepped down. On opening my bonnet I observed that one of my battery heads connector was off. So I rushed to the front passenger door side to get my pliers but to my greatest shock, I saw a loaded pistol. My God! Is this real? Did the policeman forget it in my car? As if, I was being guided by some forces beyond me, I took the gun and threw it inside the bush nearby. I did it in a way that I could still find it if I was asked to get it back. I was able to get my battery connected and zoomed off. Just by Mgbidi, there was a checkpoint and the policemen asked me to pack. They checked all my documents and they were correct, my driver's license was also fresh but they never wanted to let me go. They began to search the contents of my boot, under my car seats and even under the car. I was almost getting furious but their boss insisted that I must wait till they complete their check. I left them there and walked close to a filling station and that was where God proved himself. I heard one of the officers quarreling with someone on the phone who told him that he was sure that he left the gun in my car and he even mentioned my car plate number to my hearing. It was now clear to me that God had saved me from the miry clay and placed me on a solid ground. So, after almost four hours of no proof, I was reluctantly asked to go but the programme I was rushing to catch up had gone halfway and I decided to return back to Owerri. Please, my friends, be careful from picking policemen standing on the highway and waiting for a lift. They may not all be real. May God help us all.
This message was sent to me via WhatsApp messaging app and the website link is http://www.thejournalistblog.com/2017/08/man-narrates-how-police-man-he-offered.html
